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By: Scott Tady, Times Staff
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Local woman survives first episode trials By Scott Tady , Times Staff Millions of Americans - those who didn't doze off during the Super Bowl post-game show - got their first good glimpse of Amber Brkich on Sunday. TV viewers coast to coast saw the 22-year-old Brighton Township woman hike five miles of unforgiving territory, wade through an unfamiliar river and strive unsuccessfully to build a fire in her quest to claim the $1 million prize on CBS' "Survivor II: The Australian Outback." Her teammates, dubbed the Ogakor tribe, eventually got their fire - through a reward of waterproof matches - by winning an obstacle course race. Sporting braids, khaki shorts and a blue Reebok tanktop, Brkich helped them win that race by scampering across a flimsy bridge and pulling a raft across a river. By winning that race, Brkich and the rest of the Ogakor tribe were guaranteed to remain on the show at least until Episode Two on Thursday. The competing Kucha tribe, losers in Sunday's obstacle course race, voted to boot fellow tribe member Debb Eaton off the show. Eaton, 45, a corrections officer from New Hampshire, became the first of the heavily hyped show's 16 contestants to be eliminated. Each week, one contestant is kicked off the show until the sole survivor remains. For Sunday's "Survivor II" debut, Brkich got off to a strong start. Besides showing athleticism, she managed to avoid making enemies, unlike her tribemates Jerri Manthey and Keith Famie, who already are squabbling. Brkich displayed the leadership skills her Beaver County friends and former Westminster College professors have said she possessed. After the "Survivor" contestants were dropped off by military plane in the middle of the harsh Australian Outback, Brkich took charge, reading aloud to her tribemates a set of instructions left by the show's producers. An opening "Survivor II" segment introducing the 16 contestants showed Brkich posed outside her family's red-brick house overlooking Beaver. The next episode airs at 8 p.m. Thursday. Judging by preview clips aired after Sunday's debut, tensions already are heating up among several contestants other than Brkich. Scott Tady can be reached online at stady@calkinsnewspapers.com. Monday, January 29, 2001
